


Red Can't Save You Now

by savethepinecones



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Past Emotional Manipulation, Post-Season/Series 02, Shiro is missing, but only in the new reality, everyone in the original reality is fine, except shiro, i don't know how to tag but it's fine, lotor is actually a decent person for once whoa, lotor knows a lot because he's heir to the throne and has to be well informed don't question it, new reality keith is not a good person, pretty much everyone is dead, probably gonna change the title at some point idk, this new reality has not been good to lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 13:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11253588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savethepinecones/pseuds/savethepinecones
Summary: Keith's recklessness somehow gets him thrown into one of Slav's alternate realities. There, Keith is known as an enemy to Voltron. He must gain the trust of the remaining members of Team Voltron and find a way back to his own universe, but between an extremely untrusting Lance and an unfamiliar Red Paladin, getting answers may be more difficult than it first seems.ON HIATUS





	Red Can't Save You Now

**Author's Note:**

> I've got a vague idea of where this is going and how it's gonna end, so hopefully I'll get updates out fairly quickly. I am still gonna work on my other fic, and I'll try not to neglect either of them, but one or the other might get quicker updates at times if I'm feeling particularly inspired. For the most part, this is gonna be a more serious fic, and while there will be some klance, it's not the main focus of the story, so sorry to anyone who's disappointed by that. I'm really excited to be writing this story, and I hope you all enjoy!

The first thing Keith noticed was the voice. It was a very familiar voice, and he thought vaguely that he really should recognize it, but he was too tired and in too much pain to put any effort into doing so.

A second, deeper voice joined the first, and while he was still too groggy to understand what either voice was saying, he was able to acknowledge that this new voice was distinctly unfamiliar. This information was decidedly unhelpful, so he ignored it and instead tried to focus on what the voices were saying.

“I don’t trust this. There’s no way it’s not a trap.” The first voice was saying.

“I’m aware of your concerns. However, he most certainly has information we could use, and I’m not getting rid of him until he shares it.” The second voice answered.

“Well, I’m not taking my eyes off him. I guarantee that as soon as we look away, he’ll find some way to escape.”

“I’m not sure if you should be the one to watch him-”

“I’ll be fine. Go back to what you were doing before. I’ll let you know if anything happens.”

The second voice didn’t respond, but Keith was able to hear the faint sound of footsteps and then a door opening and closing, so he assumed the owner of the unfamiliar voice had left.

It took a while before Keith was able to gather the energy to open his eyes. When he did, he was greeted by nothing but a ceiling. He tried to turn his head, but at the first hint of movement, his entire body protested, so he decided that it would be best if he just stayed still.

He knew that the other person had stayed in the room to guard him, but was still slightly surprised when he heard the voice again.

“So, you’re finally awake.” It sounded even more familiar now that Keith was fully conscious.

“Have been for a while, but thanks for noticing.” Keith replied.

“Yeah, well, I’m not the most observant guy in the galaxy. But, of course, you already knew that.” The voice was full of bitterness and resentment, and maybe a twinge of sadness as well. Keith wasn’t entirely certain, because he got distracted before he could finish analysing it.

He had finally- probably- figured out why he recognized the voice.

“... Lance? Is that you?” He asked hesitantly.

He’d expected a simple _yes_ or _no_. He was not expecting the sound of footsteps, and he certainly was not expecting the absolute fury in Lance’s eyes when he stepped into his field of vision.

“Don’t you _dare_ act like you’re relieved to see me! After all the shit you put me through- _after everything you did_ \- I’m the _last_ person you should want to see right now. And if you actually believe that I’ll help you out, I’ll be more than happy to prove you wrong.” Lance spat.

Keith supposed that he should feel threatened- and he did, to some extent- but more than anything he was confused. Why was Lance so angry? No, angry didn’t do this justice. He was more than angry. Keith had never seen him like this. Sure, they’d had their fair share of fights, but even during their worst arguments, Lance had never been so… livid.

“Whoa, Lance, slow down. What happened? Why are you so mad at me?” Keith asked. He realized almost immediately that this was probably not the best thing to say, considering that Lance looked even more upset than before.

“ _What happened?!_ I’ll tell you what happened, you-” Before Lance could say anything else, was interrupted by a door opening and what Keith now recognized as the second voice from earlier.

“Lance, get away from him! There’s something wrong with him.”

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Lance muttered as he stepped back, leaving Keith with nothing but the ceiling to stare at once again.

“I’m serious, Lance. I did some scans in the control room. His quintessence has… changed.”

“That’s impossible! Are you sure it’s not some kind of clone or something? Maybe an evil twin? Well, actually the original was pretty damn evil, so would that make this one the good twin? But they could both be evil, too, right?” Lance started rambling, which was fairly unusual. Keith distinctly remembered that Lance tended to make jokes when he was nervous. He never rambled like this.

“He’s not a twin. My analysis shows that he’s a complete match.”

“That’s what happens with identical twins. They’re exactly the same.”

“Maybe with your basic Earth instruments, but with the technology on this ship, it’s easy to spot several distinct differences, even in the most similar people. Even clones have slight discrepancies. He has none. It’s undoubtedly him. But somehow, his quintessence…” The voice trailed off.

“Well, I’d say quintessence is a pretty big discrepancy. How does that not prove he’s a clone or something?” Lance asked.

“The differences in clones and the like are physical- slight changes in genetic makeup. Quintessence is not physical, and as such does not indicate whether or not an individual is a clone. The only difference here is the quintessence, but I have no idea how that’s possible.”

“Yeah, hey, I’m still here, and while I appreciate the science lesson, I’d really prefer to be in a healing pod right now. I’m kind of in a lot of pain.” Keith interrupted.

“We’re not putting you in a pod.” Lance told him.

“Are you gonna tell me why?” Keith asked after a few moments.

“You know why.” Lance said.

“No, I really don’t.” Keith replied.

Before he could ask again, a new face, which he assumed belonged to the unfamiliar voice, appeared above him, and began to speak. “Hmm, I wonder….”

Before he could finish his thought, Keith interrupted. “You’re Galra. And… Altean?” He was surprised to say the least, but between the purple skin and the elf-like ears, he was certain that he was right.

“What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?” The alien asked, obviously ignoring the fact that Keith had interrupted him.

Keith debated whether or not he should tell him anything. After thinking for a moment, he decided that this alien and Lance were obviously working together, and he knew that he could trust Lance.

“We were trying to get used to flying our new lions. A few Galra ships showed up, and we fought them off pretty easily, but Allura wanted to wormhole away just in case. We were heading back to the castle when Red stopped responding to Lance, so I decided to put Black on autopilot and go pilot Red myself. I only made it halfway to Red when she started working again. Lance was able to get to the castle, and I followed, but they reached the wormhole before I caught up to them. I went after them, but I’m guessing people aren’t supposed to go through wormholes without some kind of ship for protection, because I passed out. That’s the last thing I remember.” Keith explained.

The alien looked completely shocked. “Incredible.” He whispered.

“That’s not possible.” Lance said.

He hadn’t stepped close enough for Keith to see him, but he sounded upset. Not angry, like he was before, but sad.

“Actually, Lance, I think it might be.” The alien sighed. “This is just a theory, but it’s possible that when Keith went through that wormhole before, he switched places with him.” He gestured to Keith.

“But, _I’m_ Keith.” Keith told him.

“What do you mean, ‘switched places’?” Lance asked.

“There’s a theory that wormholes can sometimes lead to alternate realities. I’m not familiar with the details, but from what I understand, if certain requirements are met, a person in one reality can fall into a different reality, and their counterpart in that reality would in turn fall into the first reality.”

“So, what you’re saying is, this guy is Keith, but he’s not the Keith that we know, but they’re exactly the same, except in whatever parallel world he came from, he can somehow pilot not one, but two lions, and for some reason, I can pilot the red lion, but only kind of, and let’s not forget that somehow Allura’s alive, and I’m expected to believe all this?” Lance asked.

“Wait, are you saying Allura’s dead?!” Keith asked, panicking slightly.

“She is, but you need to understand that what happens here does not necessarily reflect your reality. It’s perfectly possible that the Allura that you’re familiar with will live a long life.” The alien explained.

“That doesn’t make her any less dead here, though.” Lance muttered.

The alien looked in the direction that Lance’s voice was coming from and smiled sadly for a moment before turning back to Keith. “I think it would be beneficial for us to share our respective stories, just so we’re clear on what’s different and what isn’t, but first, I think it would be best to put you in a healing pod. I imagine traveling between realities isn’t pleasant.” He said kindly.

“Yeah, I would appreciate that. Why didn’t you put me in a pod before, though?” Keith asked.

The alien glanced over at Lance briefly before answering. “I’ll tell you the details after you’re healed, but suffice it to say that the Keith from this reality has caused a great deal of damage to Team Voltron, and we do not usually heal our captive enemies.” He told Keith.

Keith nodded. “Makes sense.”

The alien picked Keith up and carried him across the room to the healing pods.

“Hey, by the way, I haven’t met you in my reality. Who are you?” Keith asked. It was something that had been bothering him since he’d first seen the unfamiliar face, but it hadn’t been a priority because of everything else that had been going on.

The alien looked at him, surprised. “I am Lotor, heir to the throne of the Galra Empire and Red Paladin of Voltron.”

**Author's Note:**

> Woww the part-Galran part-Altean guy is Lotor???? Who would have guessed. How shocking and unexpected. But seriously I'm so excited for this fic!! It's gonna be several chapters at least, but I have no idea just how long it's gonna be- I tend to just let my fics go where they want with only loose guidelines since that makes the flow of the story seem more natural, so it could potentially be fairly short or really long. Either way, I'll try to keep updates fairly consistent, although I won't have an exact schedule (I try to avoid forcing myself to write chapters within a certain amount of time because I lose a lot of my creativity when I'm stressing about deadlines and end up writing slower than I would otherwise).


End file.
